Digital content has won in popularity over analogical content mainly by two reasons: (1) the advantageous techniques associated with its production, reproduction and handling, and (2) the better quality that is sometimes perceived, over analogical counterparts. Since the birth of personal computers, digital files have become an easy way for copying content an unlimited number of times without suffering any loss in the quality of the copies. Generally, analogical contents loose quality with each generation copied, and frequently also during its normal usage.
Ever since communication through the Internet started, the ways for spreading, promoting and distributing all kind of products and contents have risen exponentially. Internet allows for instantaneous connection with the entire world, allowing communication with people sometimes thousands of kilometers far away from the sender, without that implying any limitation as to the transmission of either the content or the messages. The scenario of artistic expression packaged in a digital content is among the contents that can be communicated through Internet.
Internet allows sharing our artistic creations, interests and cultural likings with anybody connected to a computer in any place of the world; along with the popularization of the tools for sharing files, it has simplified the distribution of the Copyright digital contents.
The industries of music, films and electronic books, among others, are being the first in living this revolution as regards spreading and distributing digital contents. Confronted to a market with such an attractive horizon, it is unavoidable to encounter frequent discussions and even arguments as to the optimal ways for using the Internet for spreading authored digital contents.
In a sometimes quite troublesome sector, it is necessary to have a clear aim, independent from the business models and financial interests that may be at stake. That aim should always pivot around the defense of rights derived from the creation of the digital contents, and especially of the sole creator of the digital content, i.e. the author, though without leaving aside the rights and interests on the consumer/user side.
A wide set of technologies for solving the protection of the intellectual property rights have been defined, designated as ‘Intellectual Property Rights Management’ (IPRM), ‘Digital Property Rights Management’ (DPRM), ‘Intellectual Property Management’ (IPM), ‘Rights Management’ (RM), and ‘Electronic Copyright Management’ (CM), referred to here as a whole as ‘Digital Rights Management’ (DRM).
DRM is a generic word that refers to the technologies for access control used by publishers and owners of the Copyright for limiting the usage of media or digital devices. It can also refer to the restrictions associated to specific instances of digital works or devices.
For digital rights management, for example, it is necessary to take into account: Authentication, licensing, financial management, payments and balances, specification/verification/protection of rights, and of documents, etc. DRM concepts regarding these matters are described in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,530,235, 5,634,012, 5,715,403 and 5,629,980.
The availability of multiple, perfect copies of protected material is perceived by the mass-media industry as an obstacle for its operability and revenues, especially in the music, film and video game industries. Those who publish digital material have typical business models that rely on the ability of obtaining a fee for each copy of the digital product, if not for each execution of the work.
DRM was created or designed by publishers of digital contents, with features allowing controlling the duplication and distribution of such contents. The main aim consists in assigning a set of digital rights to the digital content and its later management. The different mechanisms of DRM, designed by several companies, generally share these characteristics:                It is possible to detect who accesses what digital product, when and under which conditions.        Access to the digital content can be allowed or not, according to conditions that may be altered one-sidedly by the provider of the digital product.        When access is authorized, it is under restrictive conditions established only by the provider of the digital content, independently from the legal rights accorded to authors or consumers.        
Two basic DRM schemes have been used: Secure Containers and Reliable Systems. A ‘secure container’ (or simply a digital content encryption) offers a way for keeping the content of the digital product encrypted until a set of licensing conditions is met as well as some terms of the copyright (e.g. pay-per-view). After verifying several conditions and terms with the provider of the digital contents, this is delivered to the user in a transparent way.
Commercial products such as CRYPTOLOPES™ and DIGIBOXES™ implement the scheme of the secure container. The method of the secure container gives a solution for protecting a digital content when delivered by unsecure channels, although it gives no procedure whatsoever for preventing those users who obtained the digital content in a legitimate way may use it afterwards for its redistribution, thereby violating the intellectual property of the owners of the digital contents.
In the method of the ‘reliable system’, all the system is responsible for avoiding non-authorized usage or distribution of the document. Building a reliable system usually implies the introduction of new hardware such as a secure processor, secure storing and secure presentation devices. This also requires certifying that all software applications executed in ‘reliable systems’ are also reliable. Although the building of a reliable, hacker-proof system is a real challenge for existing technologies, the market's current trends suggest that systems must be open and reliable.
As regards copyright, most efforts have been centered on creators or authors, leaving consumers' rights aside. When a user acquires an object, service or work, the user acquires certain associated rights. Nevertheless, very often these rights are neither obvious nor explicit, and what's more, new technologies have tolerated forgetfulness about some of the consumers' rights.
An answer should be given to the question ‘What is it that a user acquires when buying a scenario of artistic expression packaged in a digital content?’ For many years, for example, the music was sold and distributed using vinyl records. Under adequate conditions, vinyl records can last many years (more than the average life span of a human being, for example). Therefore, when buying a vinyl record the consumer is buying the right to listen to it for all its life. At the same time, he has the right to give it away as a gift, or to sell it again.
In the decade of the 1980s, technology changed and the cassette became the most extended way for selling and distributing music. Sadly, cassettes do not have infinite life, nor even as long as vinyl records, but at least it is long enough to prevent users from noticing a shortening in the longevity of their rights as consumers.
Cassettes were followed by optical disks (DVDs (Digital Versatile Disc) and CDs (Compact Disk), etc.), providing better sound but similar problems: the life of the optical disks is even shorter than that of the cassette. But the most important step in that moment was towards digital contents that were not to get old: The sequence of 0s and 1s can be stored ‘forever’ without loss of quality.
With the arrival of digital contents a new debate appeared: What does a consumer really acquire when buying a digital content? Is it the sequence of 1s and 0s? Or the user only becomes owner of the physical object that contains that sequence?
If the consumer acquires the sequence of 1s and 0s then users should have full rights for using any device for reproducing it, for storing the sequence in a digital device and for moving it to their digital device of choice. Furthermore, nowadays it would be very simple to give a digital content as a gift, just by passing the sequence of 1s and 0s, and later on the digital content of all the digital devices in which there was a copy would be deleted; therefore, there could be an extension or widening of consumers' rights.
That is sadly not the case: Companies dealing with the sale and distribution of authored digital contents make every effort to avoid maintaining consumers' rights when a digital content is acquired. Many current systems limit the transfer of the sequence of 1s and 0s to other devices. There are also limitations for storing, copying or giving away music.
Nevertheless, work has also been done for providing rights to consumers: Patents PCT/US2010/062658 and PCT/US2011/044964 describe a platform commercially known as ReDigi™, where ‘secondhand’ digital contents (music files) are sold. That platform allows the user to get rid of songs not listened to any more, obtaining instead discounts in the acquisition of new songs. Patent PCT/US2005/043142 allows a market of used digital contents between mobile terminals and a secure electronic storage.
UltraViolet™ (UV) proposes a 100% cloud-based DRM platform that can protect any medium, from films to music, through electronic books or TV series. Through a web interface, UV can authorize up to 12 playing devices. Also, up to 6 users can be viewing the same content simultaneously. Furthermore, user's data remain stored in UV's centralized servers: where and when a certain content was played in this way, and with whom it was shared. Compatibility is a handicap in this DRM platform: Content licensed under UV will only be available in devices supporting it. These include TVs, tablets, hard disks, mobile phones and laptops. Besides, for managing access to licenses most devices are to be connected to the cloud in some way or other.
The IEEE Project P1817—Standard for Consumer-owned Digital Personal Property, works in standards that describe the methods, algorithms, protocols and management strategies that take part in the cryptographic protection of works under Copyright for public distribution, and in preserving consumers' autonomy and privacy. The IEEE is studying a new proposal that could be an alternative to the DRM: DPP (Digital Personal Property). The Digital Personal Property is a system that allows to copy freely but requires a key for accessing the contents. The key cannot be copied but it can be transferred to anybody. The DPP technology works as follows: The protected digital content consists of two elements, a folder with the file in case and a key for accessing it through a link. The folder with the files can be copied and shared without restrictions, but to be able to access its digital content it is necessary to transfer the key, that cannot be copied, only moved.
The main obstacle to overcome for preserving consumers' rights is to ensure that when a user sells, exchanges or gives away a digital content, this content is truly eliminated/deleted from all the digital devices belonging to that user; or even if a copy of the digital content remained in his possession, it would not be possible for him to make use of it.
The aims of the invention are to provide a secure distribution during the delivery of the digital content, a protection of the intellectual property rights of usage identical to when the digital content is distributed in a physical format (printed matter (e.g. books), optical disks (DVDs, CDs, etc.) and allowing for digital contents' distribution scenarios of firsthand, secondhand, rental, exchange and temporary cession or gift through the Invention.
Every digital content distributed by the invention is done under a Virtual Secure Container of Relationship of Rights of Author and Consumer that combines a method for generating a virtual recursive secure container with the usage of two logical components of the Invention: ‘Master Avatar’ and the ‘User Avatar’. The Avatars create the virtual framework of relationship of rights of author and consumer. Master Avatar ensures the rights of author and the User Avatar custodies rights of consumer upon acquisition of digital contents.